Begin at the beginning

I am going to embrace my insecurities and go back, way back, to a time when MJF first announced. he had Parkinson's, and I had no inkling it would eventually get me "

"Poor guy,''   I said without a hint of sympathy to my name.  I wasn't being heartless, I didn't know what "Parkinson's disease" was but by the sound of the announcer's voice it couldn't be good.  I felt no sympathy; but, what the heck, I didn't know MJF either; so why should I care.  I didn't care, that is until I was diagnosed.

 Then I started reading and then I read some more. My conclusion was that things are very confused in the parkie world, so let's ask and answer questions that I have heard people say to me. in other words:

          “Begin at the beginning,” the King said gravely, “and go on till 
           you come to the end: then stop.”    

I shall, therefore, begin this catharsis with the number one question - 

WHAT IS PARKINSON'S?

Well, it is a condition of the body most recognizable to the public by tremors and shakes  It was named after the doctor wrote a paper entitled "Essay on the Shaking Palsy '.   That title alone should give you an idea as to the appearance of a person who has the condition but unfortunately shaking is only one of the symptoms.  There are many more.  Shaking is a surface problem but there are more devious ones, you can't see, waiting to attack soon.  Nobody knows what causes it but they are trying to find out.  We get reports all the time that a cure is in the offing but I have stopped reading them.

Doctors!  Even the most experienced knows very little, or at least they are not talking.  For us, it can be truly said,  “After you find out all the things that can go wrong, your life becomes less about living and more about waiting.”.

The problem is that while waiting, the condition worsens. 

I try to stay optimistic and so far, I'm OK, but every so often............. Well you know.